It sounds like your issue is too much light intensity. Not necessarily not enough dark hours.

You describe a situation where your plants are getting light from multiple sources. The solution may be to put sheers on the window.

And ... for long term health, the plants do need a consistent period of darkness. Is there some way you can put up some type of cardboard shield for your plants at night, for those times when you're going to be up late ?

Thank you, aegis!

I thought light was cumulative and with some of the extra nearby electric light at night, it would put them over the edge.

As for light intensity per se...I don't know what to say about that. In the warm months, I can see it. But they seem to stay that way even over the winter when most days are gloomy and there's barely any brightness. You would think they would start growing longer stems and loosen up a bit during that time ...but they don't. They stay tight all year round.

Not sure what to believe anymore. There's something about MY conditions that makes ANY AV grow tighter, with short stems, and relatively rigid leaves. I've come to a point where I just accept it, because they don't look bad and they DO bloom. Maybe not the maximum bloom you see in shows, but they do, some of them quite well.

Here are some recent succeses.

Ontario Optimara . These are her firts blooms and she did beautifully.

Ingrid Optimara

Rose bouquet - This one is my current favorite, what a beautiful plant - I hope I won't kill it as it seems rather delicate.

Ness Crinkle Blue

The tight crowns are not visible here but I can take some pictures to show. Not that it will make a difference. I guess they are what they are in my conditions.

Uptight, rigid little things. As long as they bloom, that should be OK.

Your violets look great.

And you're right ... I would never guess that there was any tightness.

I would still consider sheering/shading a bit in the bright months. There may not be enough time for the plants to unwind in the less bright months ...

Could they be too cold? I have a room with AVs under fluorescent lights and it gets cold there in winter — 60F or colder at night — and the crowns get tight during winter. :p

eta: your Optimara violets are gorgeous.

Party,

I didn't know AV-s can get tight crowns due to cold. You know...it's possible during the winter, but otherwise, the kitchen is warm as I am in the south.

I would love to see some pictures of what you call tight crowns. Your plants look awfully healthy to me. Some of mine have what some might call tight crowns, but they grow out just fine.

There they are, Judy. I picked a couple, at random - most grow like this except mini-s and trailers, which I have only recently begun to grow.

This is Rose Bouqet:

and this is Zoe:

Like I said. There's nothing inherently wrong with them, they do bloom - but sometimes the middle leaves get too tight, very short stems, buds have a hard time making their way through, and leaves seem a bit too hard and rigid. Sometimes it's even difficult to water from above because I am afraid that if I move them a bit out of the way, they could break.

When I get an AV at the store, they are always more soft and pliable, with longer stems. A few months in my environment and they turn sturdy, hard and tight, with short stems.

For whatever reason, minis and trailers seem much less prone to this phenomenon. This is Ness Crinkle Blue again, a better picture. Oh, how I love this little plant.

What you've shown are not really example of what growers call "tight crowns".

Here is one example ...

... and there are others at this link ...

http://www.babyviolets.com/tight-crowns-on-african-violet-plants/

Truly tight crowns lead to leaf distortion ... and will inhibit blooming.

Plants are looser and less rigid when you purchase them ... because they get less intense light there.

Here are the mechanics of AV growth. AV's will REACH toward the light. The more intense the light, the LESS they will reach, meaning shorter stems, tighter crowns, more rigidity, etc.

If you want your plants to be less rigid and more pliable, you're going to need to somehow REDUCE the light intensity they receive, or, perhaps, warm up the area a little.

Also, individual AV's grow differently. I once had a plant which grew beautifully, ... except that the blooms stems were so short ... that the blooms barely made it out of the foliage. The solution was to find a spot for that plant ... which got a lesser intensity of light (i.e. further away from the source). Once I did this, ... the stems grew long enough ... for me to actually see the blooms.

What we are talking about here is higher level AV care ... when you are beyond just keeping them growing and blooming ...

Severe_Novice, I'm in your camp with calling yours a "tight crown"... that's like what I see in my plants that are cold.

eta: aegis, I think I'd call your example something beyond a tight crown. That's severely distorted and basically a goner. lol!

Severe_Novice, thanks For your photos. They look a lot like some of my crowns, which I’ve never considered a problem because the plants grow and bloom just fine. But if you have blooming problens and very stiff leaves, then I guess you may have a too much light issue as aegis describes.

For a while, I thought it was the fertilizer, but now I suspect again it's too much light.

They have windows all around and a skylight window above. This is the brightest corner in the house, the rest being ... well, not bright at all (80's home, 8 inch ceilings, not my favorite feature of the house but oh, well). It looks darker in the picture here but this is one bright east-facing corner.

They get morning and noon bright light and even a bit of direct sunlight at some point (east windows), which I know is a no-no but there's not much I can do about it. This is one corner I have available, the rest of the house wouldn't work.

Then again, what I don't understand is why the leaves don't get longer and softer in the winter, if light is the issue. There's a huge difference in light in the same spot between winter and summer, and I haven't noticed them to get any less tighter in the winter. We had so many gloomy days this year, I measured the light and those that sit at the bottom barely got the minimum necessary.

So why would they still be tight?

I had one Optimara which was getting abnormally tight (and that was in the winter!) so I moved it in the dining, at a window with sheers, where it received less light.

I THINK it grew a bit longer stems but not by much.

In the kitchen, where I have the AV corner (abovr), I can't put sheers. It wouldn't look good and it wouldn't be practical either for our purposes.

I wonder where the stores keep their AV-s that they have such pliable leaves and long stems.

In a dark garage? ... So weird.

When all is said and done, it's no big deal because they do bloom and they are not sick. That I know for sure. At the same time, this has become such a brain worm: it bugs me that I don't understand what exactly is going on with them, why they CONSISTENTLY change so much in my environment from the softer shape I get them at the store. How much light do they need to bloom profusely yet have longer and less tight stems and leaves.

It is also possible I am fertilizing them too often. I fertilize pretty much every time I water but I respect the diluted dose, per instructions. Maybe I should flush them more often and give them a break from fert altogether.

I can see how consistent fertilizer can get them to tight and sturdy.

I am also not crazy about the fact that they develop puckered leaves -small little round protrusions in the surface of the leaf, as seen in Zoe above. I like the leaf perfectly smooth.

I am sure it's something to do with the combo of ight and fertilizer that I give them.

I probably need to do a more serious experiment. Move one in another room, keep her there for long enough, give it less fertilizer, then compare.

Or maybe accept that these are my conditions and I am just fussing over something not so relevant. I am grateful for the bright corner which is, I suppose, responsible for the nice bloom I can get. I know other people complain about not enough light and not being able to get them to bloom at all.

One last question: as the bloom greedy weirdo that I am...I wish I could get some of them to perform at show levels in terms of bloom. That is, MORE! LOL

If I disbud, will they bloom even more profusely? I wish I could see Ness and Rose bouquet covered in blooms.

Rose Bouqet is a little dream but mine is still very young.

Thank you all so much!

aegis,

I just wanted to add that my middle leaves often start like the ones you show in the picture but then they seem to get a bit better as they grow. Still tight, almost always.

I also wanted to add a picture I just took. Ness and Rose bouquet are to die for, and that Optimara to the left is Stephanie, I assume - one of the bluest (as in true blue) I have seen. She was tight too at some point but it got better more recently.

You never know what does it.

Once again, per your photos, your plants look great.

So ... now we're really discussing about how to achieve your preferences.

If you fertilize as consistently as you say, ... then your plants get more fertilizer than mine do. And almost certainly your plants get a higher intensity of light than mine do. Where your leaves droop down, ... mine reach up a bit.

I also allow my plants to dry out a bit before I water them ... which certainly accounts for some degree of looseness and flexibility (sometimes fatally so).

I'll show the crown of one of my plants ...

It probably is a bit looser than yours are.

Maybe less light ... less fertilizer ... less water ???

BTW ... the plant is Suncoast Lavender Silk ... for which I will post a separate thread ...

With water, I too let them dry sometimes, and like you, sometimes a bit too much, which CAN be fatal. I just lost a child of Smoky Mountains but I think that's because I'd forgotten it sitting in water. Good thing I have the mother plant. They are not wicked.

Suncoast is beautiful - I love the leaves! I recently decided to try some variegated varieties again. Rose bouquet is by far my favorite right now. I thought Optimara Ingrid was, but this one blows it out of the water. It is still young and small but it bloomed its head off and it is gorgeous. I am a big fan of roses so maybe this is why I love it so much. The blooms are literally tiny roses.

Right now it looks like a mini, being so young and all, but I wonder how big Rose Bouquet gets, as a standard. It doesn't look like a standard to me though.

I am also trying Tiger for variegation. Depending on blooms, I may or may not keep it as it's taking quite a bit of space.

Do the variegated varieties need more light than the regular ones? If so, they should do better in my window. But Rose Bouquet is variegated and it's still reaching downwards.

"Do the variegated varieties need more light than the regular ones?"

Per my understanding, the variegated varieties tolerate LESS LIGHT ... and are more apt to burn under intense light.

So that means they need even less light than the regular AV-s. I remember reading somewhere that without sufficient light, they lose their variegation...

I think that it is the opposite ...

From ... https://www.optimara.com/africanvioletcare1.html

"While insufficient sunlight can be harmful, too much sunlight can also cause problems. Among other symptoms, too much sunlight will produce brown spots on the leaves and flowers. This is a form of necrosis analogous to sunburn. In addition, too much sunlight can cause the leaves to curl down and may turn variegated leaves entirely green."

I only have one variegated AV -- Lyndon Lyons 'Kate's Rendezvous' -- and I've noticed that in less light it has far less variegation. It actually likes more light (natural light) than my other AVs. Lots of sunlight causes the white of its leaves to turn pink.

Re tight crowns, I have one AV (LL 'Marina' -- a thumbprint) whose leaves bleach out and the crown gets tight whenever it gets too much sunlight.

Novice, Puckered or bubbly appearance on leaves can be from fluorescent light that is not strong enough to induce blooms. Such leaves also turn deeper green. I am not sure if that is what you are referring to. Joanne

Joanne,

Mine are not under fluorescent lights, just in an eastern-facing;window.

Yes, see Zoe’s image above.